‘Meet the Press’ transcript for May 27, 2007

MR. RUSSERT:  You disagree with him on Roe v. Wade.

GOV. RICHARDSON:  He is...

MR. RUSSERT:  Let’s do a do—let’s do a do-over.  Who is your model Supreme Court justice?

GOV. RICHARDSON:  I would say two:  Ruth Bader Ginsberg, who wrote the dissenting opinion on, on the abortion issue, who I think is a distinguished scholar.  Earl Warren, you know, who led a number of civil rights efforts. But, you know, I did not know that record of Whizzer White when I said that. I mean, Brian...

MR. RUSSERT:  So we’re off, we’re off Whizzer White now?

GOV. RICHARDSON:  Well, yeah.  But, but, you know, he, he has said—I checked up afterwards—he said he was, I think he said something on, on the, he was for the right to choose, but he dissented on the opinion.  Look, I was asked, I shouldn’t have said that.  So you’re going to—I’ve been in public life 25 years.  You’re going to find a lot of these.  It seems you’ve found them all here.

MR. RUSSERT:  Well, I’m just trying to set the record and trying to give you a chance to respond, which is fair.

GOV. RICHARDSON:  OK.  No, yeah, that’s fine.

MR. RUSSERT:  One other thing that has surfaced in the campaign is that your resumes and other things had always said that you were drafted in major league baseball since 1966 by the Kansas City A’s.  You now say you were not drafted.

GOV. RICHARDSON:  Well, at the time, if you look at that year, Tim, the draft was just starting.  I was offered a contract, $25,000, by a, a, a, a Houston Colts scout by the name of Jack Johnson, who has a notarized statement that said that he—I was offered this.  So I assumed that having been offered this, I had been drafted.  And then when I played in the Cape Cod League as a pitcher, my arm was already starting to go because I’d thrown too many curveballs, that, that was in the program.  So I always assumed it had happened.  I made a mistake.  I should have checked.  But I was a decent player until I was about 21.

MR. RUSSERT:  You spent a lot of time in, in Massachusetts.  Are you a Red Sox fan?

GOV. RICHARDSON:  I’m a Red Sox fan, but I got into trouble in New Hampshire. You know why?  Because I said...

MR. RUSSERT:  Luis Tiant, the fund-raiser.  But, now, governor, this is very serious.  In your book on page 18 it says...

GOV. RICHARDSON:  No, about Mickey Mantle?

MR. RUSSERT:  You said you’re a Yankee fan!

GOV. RICHARDSON:  No, no, no.  I said—no, no, no.

MR. RUSSERT:  I mean, you can, you can...

GOV. RICHARDSON:  No, no, no, no.

MR. RUSSERT:  ...you can have different views on immigration, assault weapons...

GOV. RICHARDSON:  I, no no no no.  No, what I said...

MR. RUSSERT:  But when it comes to Red Sox, Yankees.

GOV. RICHARDSON:  What I said, the Associated Press asked me, “If you weren’t running for president, if you weren’t running for president, what would you rather be?” I’ve always been a Red Sox fan, but I said if I weren’t running for president I would like to be number seven, Mickey Mantle, playing center field for the New York Yankees.

MR. RUSSERT:  “Because of Mickey Mantle, I became a Yankee fan.”

GOV. RICHARDSON:  I, my favorite team has always been the Red Sox.

MR. RUSSERT:  You’re a Red Sox fan.

GOV. RICHARDSON:  I’m a Red Sox fan.

MR. RUSSERT:  End of subject.

GOV. RICHARDSON:  End of subject.

MR. RUSSERT:  You better get rid of this book.

GOV. RICHARDSON:  Oh, no!  I’m also a Yankee fan.  I also like...

MR. RUSSERT:  Oh, now, wait a minute!

GOV. RICHARDSON:  You can—Tim...

MR. RUSSERT:  I guarantee...

GOV. RICHARDSON:  No, I know, I got in trouble...

MR. RUSSERT:  ...if you go—if you go to Yankee Stadium or Fenway, you cannot be both.

GOV. RICHARDSON:  But I like—Mickey Mantle was my hero.  If I weren’t running for president, and the Associated Press asked me, I’d play center field for the New York—I wanted to be number seven.  And—but I still love the Red Sox as a team.  I mean, this is the thing about me, Tim.  I can bring people together.  I can unify people.

MR. RUSSERT:  Yankee fans and Red Sox fans?

GOV. RICHARDSON:  Yes.

MR. RUSSERT:  Not a chance.

GOV. RICHARDSON:  Well, I bet you I can.

MR. RUSSERT:  Before you go, Iowa.  Way back in ‘88, after the Democrats had not been successful winning the presidency, you said this:  “One of Richardson’s ideas for the Democrats’ next try at the presidency is to stop holding their first primary in Iowa because of the predominance of special interests in that state.” You still say that?

GOV. RICHARDSON:  1988?

MR. RUSSERT:  Yeah.  Do you still share that view?

GOV. RICHARDSON:  No.

MR. RUSSERT:  You love Iowa.

GOV. RICHARDSON:  No, I love Iowa.

MR. RUSSERT:  I thought so.

GOV. RICHARDSON:  You know, let me just say something.  I’ve been campaigning in Iowa and New Hampshire.  Those voters really scrutinize you, and I am for them staying as number one.  I hope they move up their primaries because I believe that those states have—they, they feel that responsibility of scrutinizing everybody, they’re issue-oriented.

MR. RUSSERT:  So Iowa no longer...

GOV. RICHARDSON:  Well, that was 1988.  I mean, I...

MR. RUSSERT:  So they no longer have a predominance of special interests?

GOV. RICHARDSON:  No, I haven’t noted any.

MR. RUSSERT:  Governor Bill Richardson, we thank you for joining us and sharing your views for the full hour.

GOV. RICHARDSON:  Thank you.

MR. RUSSERT:  And our viewers should know, as part of our Meet the Candidates 2008 series, we’ve invited all the major candidates for president—all of them—to appear here for the full hour.  We’re also archiving the transcripts and videos of the entire series on our Web sites so you the voters and viewers can review the candidates’ positions and answers throughout the entire campaign.  We will be right back.

(Announcements)

MR. RUSSERT:  And that’s all for today.  If you want to find out more about Bill Richardson, including which world’s record he holds in 2002, check out our conversation on Take Two, Web extra, our Web site this afternoon at mtp.msnbc.com.

We’ll be back next week.  If it’s Sunday, it’s MEET THE PRESS.  And today and this weekend, we remember on Memorial Day all those men and women who gave their lives for our freedom, and particularly their parents, who’ll mourn and grieve their loss forever.

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